Another Chosen One
by Katie Osmando
Summary: Begins after series ended: adds a character and goes within Angel boundaries, too.
1. Another Chosen One

**Chapter One: Another Chosen One**

My life has _always_ been complicated. I somehow always _knew_ I was different. But on the morning of May 22, 2001, everything changed. You see, I was asleep in my home of Halesberg, Virginia when I was awakened. I don't know why or what awoke me, but I sat up, feeling a little weird. I glanced over at the clock to see the time: 8:09 in the morning. But you see, four time zones behind me, there was a girl. She was pretty: blond hair, green eyes, slender, and graceful. I now know the event that changed my life started in a one-Starbucks town named Sunnydale in California. So, you see, in Sunnydale, the time was 5:09 AM. I closed my eyes and tried to lay back down, but my back wouldn't go down. It stayed stiff, and in my mind, I saw the events that were occurring in Sunnydale. I saw a flash as I watched a young girl my age with brown hair chained onto a high tower, a drop of blood falling from her body. With a flash, a huge cloud of weird light was made. The blond girl helped the chained girl go and helped her limp toward the actual tower, stating, "Go!"

The girl that was once chained said, "Buffy, it's started." I watched as the blond girl, which I had figured her name was Buffy, as the other one had called her, turned to see the cloud, growing larger, shooting lightning out of it. Buffy turned back to the girl as the girl said while she cried, "I'm sorry." _Was it her fault?_ I wondered to myself.

Buffy replied, "It doesn't matter." The girl tried to run past her, but she grabbed her. "What are you doing?"

The girl replied, "I have to jump. The energy."

Buffy then told her, "It'll kill you."

I watched as the two girls stared at each other. The girl said softly, "I know. Buffy, I know about the ritual. I have to stop it."

_What ritual?_ What _is going on here?_ my mind wondered.

Buffy then said, "No."

The tower then started to shake and they stumbled to stay on their feet. "I have to," the girl stated. "Look what's happening." I watched in horror as a dragon flied out of the portal. The girl continued to jabber, saying, "Buffy, you have to let me go. Blood starts it, and until the blood stops flowing, it'll never stop. You know you have to let me. It has to have the blood."

I watched as Buffy looked like she had just realized something. She said, "Death..." Suddenly, I heard a voice in my head saying "is your gift." She frowned and turned as the sky grew lighter as the sun was trying to rise, while the sky started to get all holey. I watched as she looked peaceful and turned back to the girl, staring wide-eyed.

The girl cried, "Buffy... no!"

Buffy looked at her and said, "Dawnie, I have to."

Dawnie whimpered, "No!"

"Listen to me. Please, there's not a lot of time, listen," she then took Dawnie into her arms as started to cry. "Dawn, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will _always _love you. But this is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles...tell Giles I figured it out. And, and I'm okay. And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in the world...is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me." With that, I watched in my head as she turned and ran off the platform, diving into the cloud. The cloud disappeared and I watched as Dawn sobbed. But before the cloud ended, I watched as Buffy was in the portal. She turned to where she was facing me and stated, "You're next. Do a good job... don't die, like me." I had just seen these two girls for the first time and one had already _died_! But after she stated this, I felt a strange surge go through my body. I didn't see the event anymore and my eyes opened. I couldn't go back to sleep, not after this. I thought maybe, just maybe, it was a weird dream and ignored it. But soon, I found out that it wasn't. A couple days later, a woman approached me. She introduced herself as Crystal and sat me down. She then started to talk to me.

"Tori, (That's my name, by the way.... Tori Giles) do you remember May 22nd?" she asked.

"Yes, of course. It was only a couple days ago," I replied.

"Well..." she started. "A death occurred that day on the other side of the country. It happened in Sunnydale, California to a girl named B-"   
"Buffy?" I finished, remembering the strange dream.

"You had a vision, didn't you?"

"A vision?" I repeated. "I don't believe in visions."

"The girl you saw was, in fact, Buffy Summers. You see, Buffy's not your average, everyday girl. She's a superhero. Now, before you start to say I'm crazy, hear me out. You felt a kind of... _surge_ go through you after she died, did you not?" she inquired in a nosy way.

I nodded, saying, "How did you know that?"

"You see, _you_, like Buffy, are not a normal girl. You, too, are a superhero. You're a Vampire Slayer, as she once was. One girl in all the world, a chosen one, one with the skills to fight the vampires, demons and the forces of darkness, to stop the spread of evil. _You_ were chosen next. You see, Buffy was a vampire slayer,_ The_ Vampire Slayer. She had already died, so there is another. Her name is Faith, but Faith killed a man and is now in prison. So, because Buffy is dead and there is no one to protect the world, another was called. _You_ are the next Slayer," she said.

"Ok, _where_ are the hidden cameras?" I asked, looking around. "Cause I've _gotta_ be on some kind of show. It's not funny, you know, walking up to innocent little girls just to get ratings on a cable show. I-"

"Oh, there are not cameras, Tori. This is all very _real_. You have been called to slay the evil in this world and I'm your watcher. Now, we must get started on your training, but I guess I must prove it to you..." she looked around to find a heavy rock on the ground. It must've weighed at least a ton by what it looked. "There. Go pick that rock up."

"Are you _crazy_?" I told her. "There's no way I can pick that u-"

"Just try," she said. So I walked over and picked it up to discover it was as light as a feather. "Now, pick up this bench. Only a Slayer would have this strength."

I began to believe her, and as I discovered, slaying vampires and demons was fun. I was fourteen then and ready to save the world. But the visions continued. I witnessed as Buffy was brought back from the dead and as Willow, a friend of Buffy's, tried to destroy the world. I actually started to leave for Sunnydale when I saw that, but the same voice that had said, "is your gift" told me that it was not time for me to leave for Sunnydale yet. So, during those next two days, I kept having visions of the events in Sunnydale concerning Willow until Xander, another one of Buffy's friends, stopped her. I was having visions during lunch, while in the car, sleeping, and in school. It was a nightmare. Then, the First started to come back. Crystal taught me everything she knew about the First when I told her what was happening in Sunnydale. But when she found out that the Watchers' Council had been destroyed, she left to help build another. After she left, the Bringers came after me. They wound up killing my mother in an attempt to kill me. I wound up killing them all but one. I had never met my father, and was only left with information that he was British and his name was Rupert Giles. My mother told me that he didn't know about me because they broke up before she found out she was going to have me and decided not to track him down to tell him. I only had a picture of him, where he was in his early thirties. This was when I started to pack to go to Sunnydale. I knew I had to be there when the First finally came after Buffy and her friends, and I couldn't wait around for that stupid voice to tell me when I should go. I got my drivers license early and put my things in my new Ford Escort. I was at my last day of school when I had a vision in the middle of English of Faith coming to Sunnydale. I watched, and so did my class, as words written in blood appeared on the board: IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO GO.

"It's about _time_ you tell me that!" I exclaimed aloud.

The teacher turned. "Tori, there is no reason to get that excited about the deaths of Salem."

She turned to see the words and gasped, screaming as more was written: THE SLAYER NEEDS YOU.... AND SO DOES YOUR FATHER.

"My father? What do you mean? Who _are_ you? _Give_ me some answers!"

YOUR FATHER IS IN SUNNYDALE. I AM THE FIRST SLAYER. MY PURPOSE IS TO GUIDE THE SLAYERS AFTER ME. YOU MUST GO. IT IS YOUR TIME TO JOIN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE FIRST EVIL.

"What is happening?!" cried my teacher as I gathered my things and left the room. "Where are you going?!"

"To Sunnydale.... to find Buffy and my father," I told her.

I put my things in my Escort and drove off. It took me two weeks, but I was finally in California. I had the radio blasting (Destiny's Child's "Survivor" was playing) and I was singing at the top of my lungs when I drove by a sign that read "Sunnydale: 5 miles." I looked ahead to see a bus in front of a huge crater. I drove up to see a group of people standing near the crater looking in. They turned and I recognized several faces immediately. I got out and walked up to them, saying, "Buffy Summers... hi. I'm Tori Giles. I'm the Slayer called after you."

She looked at a man that looked quite old as he looked back at her, replying with a British accent, "I'm sorry, Buffy, but I wasn't told about another Slayer."

"Maybe she was called after Red did her mojo on the Scythe," a girl I recognized as Kennedy said, cuddling up to Willow.

"No! I've been a Slayer for two years! I was fourteen when it first happened. I'm sixteen now." I turned to the man with the accent and said, "You're Rupert Giles, aren't you?"

"Yes, do I know you?" he replied.

I gasped. "You... _know_ about this stuff?"

"Yes, very much. I'm a Watcher."

"You're a _Watcher_?! How come you weren't assigned to _me_? Then I.... and Mom coulda...seen you one more time..." a tear strolled down my cheek. "But you don't even know who I am..."

"Who are you, exactly?" he asked.

"Do you remember Cassidy McGregor?" I asked him, hoping he would.

"Yes, she was an old girlfriend of mine. I broke up with her when the Watcher's Council called me to train some watchers," he replied.

"How long ago was that?" I said.

"Seventeen years ago," he stated.

I looked at him. "So, hmm.... lemme get this straight. Seventeen years ago, you slept with her, and then ran off, not even waiting to see if she got pregnant. Then-"

"Whoa...." Faith started, getting it. "Giles' got a _kid_? And she's a _Slayer_? Damn."

"I've told you, I'm _the_ Slayer. When Buffy died in 2001, and _you_ were too busy doing time for killin' a guy and going all psycho, they had to find somebody to stop the vampires, not knowing Willow was gonna bring Buffy back. So, who'd they pick? Me. _I_ was the Chosen One. Yes, I am the daughter of Cassidy McGregor, and yes, Rupert Giles here is the father."

"Are.... are you sure?" he asked, crouching down to the ground.

"Yes, I'm quite sure. _Very_ sure. Mom say's she's never been with anyone else."

"Yes, yes, she told me that back then, too... I wish I knew what to say to you, uh, Tori, but.... I don't know. I mean, you're sixteen. I've had a daughter for sixteen years and... your mother couldn't _tell_ me?"

"She didn't know where you ran off to, so she couldn't. You left no trace," I told him. I then looked over to the crater and said, "Wasn't that Sunnydale? I haven't had a vision in the last two weeks, so can _somebody_ tell me what happened here since Faith came to town?"

One by one, they told me the story. The battle at the Hellmouth, the bomb, Caleb's ending, and even Spike's ending.

"Spike's dead?!" I cried. "But... you two were supposed to get together!"

"Uh... not really," she replied.

"Come on... it was inevitable," I argued.

"Whatever," She said, moving on. "So, where do we go from here?"

I watched as some of the group looked around.

"That phrase isn't the same without Anya," Xander said.

"What happened to Anya?" I asked.

"She... passed in the fight," said Andrew, piping up.

"Wow.... I'm guessing you guys are referring to the last number you guys did when that demon.... I think his name was Sweet... came to town, huh?" I replied.

"Yep," Xander said. "That was fun... except for the spontaneous combustion caused by singing songs."

"Easy for _you_ to say, you _summoned_ him," Dawn put in.

"And don't forget Tara..." Willow said, holding Kennedy tighter.

"What?" Kennedy asked, confused.

"I think they went through a singing phase, Les," Faith told her.

"Yeah, don't call me that. I got Slayer strength now and kinda feel like kicking your ass," Kennedy replied.

"Ooh, bring it on," Faith said. "But do it another day... I'm a little tired from that dumb-ass fighting we were doing."

"Whatever," Kennedy told her. "You're still getting you're a-"   
"GUYS!!!" Buffy cried. "Shut up. Ok, we're all tired, and fighting is the least of our problems." She turned to me and asked, "Now, where'd you come from?"

"Halesberg, Virginia," I told her. "I've been driving here a full two weeks."

"Virginia. Okay. Do you have a big house? Big enough to at least house all of us?"

"Yeah."

"Great. Guys, load the bus. We're setting up camp in Halesberg." As they all headed towards the bus, she looked at me and said, "We need to stop at the nearest store and get some supplies. Snacks, bandages, alcohol to take care of wounds, things of that nature. Do you have a cell phone?" When I told her yes, she continued, "Okay. I'll need your cell phone number. Probably a smart thing if someone rides with you." After I gave it to her, she ran up to the bus. I heard her say, "Dawn, I want you to ride with Tori. Keep her company. When we get somewhere, you can either come back onto the bus or ride with her again."

She just got done leading these people through a battle and she's jumping into leading them again, I thought. Dawn joined me, sitting next to me, and we started to drive behind the bus, never to come back to the now crater-like Sunnydale again.


	2. Life After Sunnydale

Chapter Two: Life _After_ Sunnydale

"So, you have visions and all?" Dawn asked me as I drove down the road.

"Yeah. That's how I discovered Buffy died," I replied. "I, um, also saw you."

"Oh…" she said, looking away from the road. "You saw that whole scene?"

"Yeah…" After several minutes of silence, I asked her, "So, how old are you, anyway?"

"I'm fifteen now. I'll be a sophomore next year."

"Cool. What kind of music d'you listen to?"

"I _love_ pop, but rock and rap is better. Anything I can shake my _ass_ to," she told me with a smile on her face.

"You know any good radio stations around here?"

"Oh, yeah! 95.8!" she said and started to flip through the stations. The radio started to play the latest Britney Spears song, and, laughing the whole way through, we sang with her as loud as we could.

At the end, we were still laughing when my cell phone rang. It was Buffy.

"_God_, think you can sing any _louder_?!" she cried.

"Uh, _yeah_, do you want us to _try_?" I replied with a smile.

"We have the _windows_ down and can hear you, but I think we could _still_ hear you two if we had them _up_! What I'm _trying_ to say is, either pull up the window or _stop singing_! We have a _bunch_ of injured girls on this bus and…" I pulled the phone away from my ear, looking at Dawn.

"Does she _always_ give long speeches like this?" I asked.

"Pretty much," Dawn said, nodding. "You get used to it after awhile."

"…. two singing, oh, I'm _sorry_, _screeching_ your lungs out!!!!"

"Well, I'm _sorry_ we were just trying to have some fun. _God_, you're _not_ alone anymore, Buffy! Actually, you _haven't_ been alone for _quite_ a while now, but you _still_ pretend you're the _only_ one chosen! There's Faith and me, and now _millions_ of girls can kick vamp-ass like you can! You _don't_ have to be so uptight anymore! You can go _anywhere_! But yet, you're _still_ being so stupid and failing to realize you don't _have_ to be the leader anymore. Buffy, you can _unclench_ now. You couldn't before, but now you can. You can, and sooner or later, you _will_. And you will feel _so_ much better after you do," I told her.

"Next town is fifteen miles away. We'll stop there for lunch," Buffy said quietly. "Bye."

"Don't you think you were a _little_ hard on her?" Dawn asked me.

"I only told her what she needed to hear. That was good for her. _Believe_ me."

Dawn nodded, and we started to sing again.

Ten minutes later, we pulled up to a parking lot that had a McDonalds, Doublemeat Palace, and a Taco Bell within a mile of each other. Buffy told them they could go eat wherever they wanted to as long as they paid for it themselves. I jumped on the bus and took orders for the injured. It was so sad, seeing all those girls who had been in battle scarred, maybe even for life, on the outside as well as the inside. But there was nothing I could do to stop those inside scars. After Dawn and I had served the girls, we ran over to McDonalds to eat something for ourselves. I had seen what had happened when Buffy worked at the Doublemeat Palace and Dawn hated that place, so we decided to go to McDonalds.

I wasn't very hungry, (I had stopped by an Arby's before reaching Sunnydale for breakfast) so I got a Big Mac, but Dawn got three Big Macs, an order of fries, a parfait, and a McChicken. I didn't say anything because she had just gotten out of fighting, but it did seem like a little too much. But I kept my mouth shut and let her eat. While eating, Dawn chatted about her life and how lucky she was to be Buffy's sister, although she would never tell Buffy that. I kinda respected her when she admitted that. She really is a brilliant teen who never got to live her life to full potential because of her mom dying, and Buffy dying, and just dealing with the demon world. But yet, she still loves her sister. Dawn told me she did some stupid things (I didn't tell her I had seen them myself) and that she never wanted to piss her sister off again. Dawn and I really did some true bonding on the trip back home. I guess it was just because she never really had a true friend that knew her, knew what she was truly going through, and I did. I think she was a little happy to finally have someone she could tell everything to.

After she ate, we decided to run down to the nearest store and buy some stuff to take care of the injured. We bought normal stuff, alcohol, bandages, Neosporin, medicine; we bought everything we could think of. (And that was cheap) Buffy really appreciated it, and we spent the next thirty minutes helping to use it. I took that time to notice the others. Robin Wood was pretty quiet; I think he had a lot on his mind. Faith was too busy taking care of him, so I figured there was something between them. Rona was… interesting. She was nice and collected, but she spoke her mind when she felt the time was right. She helped us take care of Vi and Amanda. Amanda came out lucky; all she had was a bad cut on her stomach. When I asked her what happened, she told me, "Oh, that? I was fighting an Ubervamp and it kinda brushed me with its' sword, but I'm okay." I made sure that was bandaged up before moving on.

While on the bus, the newly turned slayers were questioning me.

"So, you're _really_ the Slayer?" Rona asked. "The one that came after Buffy?"

"When she died the _second_ time, of course," Amanda said.

"Yeah," I said, nodding. "Buffy died and _I_ was called."

"So… you were a Slayer before us," Rona said.

"Yeah."

"So… if Buffy _did_ die, none of us would have been called?" she asked.

"No, guess not."

"Huh. Well, ain't _you_ special." Rona then walked to the back of the bus. I just looked confused.

"Kennedy told us on the way here," Amanda explained. "Rona didn't seem very happy about it. I kinda think she thought _she_ could be the next slayer if Buffy died."

"It doesn't _matter_ about the _order_, guys!" I cried. "We're _all_ Slayers now, and _that's_ what matters! If we join together, we can stop _every_ evil being in the world! Demons, vampires, evil _witches_ couldn't stop us! But we _have_ to join together, and you all _cannot_ be against me just 'cause _I _was called _before_ you! So what, if I was _Chosen_?! You can't _hate_ me because of it! 'Cause then the Ones who made up the _stupid_ rule about _one_ Slayer will have won. Buffy and Faith _hated_ each other for a long time, and where did it get them? One was in jail and the other one _died_, and they _just_ made up! We _have_ to get along, and I'm willing to try. Are you?"

"You know, she's _right_, guys," Kennedy said. "She may have been called before us, but we're _all_ Slayers. And that's the only thing that matters now. So, Rona, put the _jealousy_ behind you and get on the Slayer train, 'cause now we _all_ can kick evil's ass _so_ hard, it'll wish it was _never_ born."

"We _do_ have all the luck in our hands now," Vi said, nodding. She then started coughing.

"Hey, now, Vi, don't talk," Amanda said as she ran over to her. "You can talk when you're better. Or, at least, better than you are now."

"I guess you guys are right," Rona quietly stated. "I'm sorry, Tori."

"You know what?" Kennedy asked.

"What?" we all inquired.

"That speech you just gave, Tor, just sounded _exactly_ like one Buffy would give. Guess you were Chosen directly from Buffy _after_ all," she laughed. Then she added, "It was a little more inspirational than Buffy's, though. Guess you're gonna give Buffy a run for power."

"I don't think _any_ of us need a leader anymore," I told them. "I just think we can all lead together."

"Well, we'll see how that works later, but for now, we _really_ need to get a move on," Faith said, cutting in as she and Buffy got on.

"Dawn, are you riding with Tori or us?" Buffy asked.

"I think I'll hang out some more with Tori," Dawn said, smiling at me. "Unless you need me?"

"No, not anymore, thanks to all the bandages you two got," Buffy replied. "Thanks for that."

"No problem," I said. "Just glad to help."

Dawn and I then got back into my car and talked. We talked about everything, but soon we ran out of things to say, so we started to make a list of really hot guys.

"Ooh! Shia Lebouf!" I cried out suddenly.

"Shia _Lebouf_?" Dawn asked, laughing. "That guy who played _Louis_ on Even Stevens?"

"_What_?" I said, glancing over at her for a second. "He's _cute_!"

She giggled and said, "We _can't_ make a list without Justin Timberlake."

"True," I replied, nodding. "But then, we'd _have_ to name _every_ guy that's in a boy band."

"Well, then…." She said, pausing to think. "Spike."

"Oh, yeah, from what I saw in my visions, Spike was a _total_ hottie," I replied.

"He looked _much_ better in real life, believe me!" she cried.

"I could _believe_ that…." We thought about Spike and took a minute to mourn his tragic death. After that, I said quietly, "Connor."

"You mean _Angel's_ son? I haven't _seen_ him, but I've heard a _lot_…"

We looked at each other.

"Were you just saying something?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I…. I was, but… I don't remember _what_. Do you?" she replied.

"No…"

(You see, just at this time, the spell on Connor was kicked in on us. It hit LA quickly, but it took a while to get to us, for some strange reason. I guess because we were talking about him, and I really didn't want to stop thinking about Connor)

"Huh…" she shrugged. "Who was the last one we named?"

"Spike," I said, and we started to name more.

Two days later, we were in Arizona. The girls who were injured were healing well, and none had died. We were only stopping for gas and a huge lunch because Buffy decided the next time we stopped we were wasting too much money. So she got a bunch of Pop Tart boxes and granola bars for breakfast and bunches of chips, vegetables, fruit, and sodas (They were all on special) to have for dinner. Things were pretty much quiet in my Escort. Dawn and I had run out of things to say and name, so we just listened to music and occasionally sang to the music.

It took another ten days to get back to Virginia. And damn, was it great to get home. Buffy seemed happy with the house and the girls and I went back to school. But Buffy didn't want to stay. She wanted to travel abroad in Europe, see the sights while looking for Slayers. And who were we to say no? She was leaving two capable Slayers behind: Faith and me. She wanted us to train the new Slayers as she went to Europe. Dawn was sad to see her go, and first wanted to leave with her, but decided to wait until Buffy was settled down in one city before moving in with her. I, personally, was thrilled that Dawn had decided this. I would be lonely without Dawn; Dawn and I were now inseparable. I drove Buffy and Dawn to the airport after the Good-bye party we threw for her. Buffy's departure was sad, but Dawn got through it. I guess Buffy's blood that is running through Dawn's veins make Dawn as strong as Buffy. Dawn had a lot of potential, though she never knew it. She would make a great Watcher, and I think deep down that's what Dawn wanted to do. Slowly but surely, within the first month at home, other slayers began to leave. Xander left with Andrew to begin the new Watcher's Council, and Willow and Kennedy left for South America to find other slayers. Principal Wood, who was now addressed as Robin, stayed with Faith here, as did Dawn, Amanda, Rona, and Giles.

Things got into a groove after a while. But they were interrupted when Amanda and Rona finished high school two years earlier than they were supposed to and moved to Africa to train slayers there. Faith was now appointed as my Watcher, since Giles could not be mine because he was my father. But Giles traveled back and forth, from London and Halesberg, so things were a little strange there.

One day, Dawn and I were in the cafeteria at lunch, sitting with my best friend Tymeria. I never got to spend much time with her anymore; as Faith made me do some weird things that she called "training." Dad didn't approve of them, but had no say. She was complaining about that fact when she said, "Well, I _shouldn't_ be complaining, it's not like I'm home half the night."

"You've been _sneaking out_?!" I cried. "Ty, I've _told_ you before, it's not _safe_ to wonder around at night!"

"I can take care of _myself_, you know," she replied. "I'm stronger than you _think_."

Dawn looked at her. Willow had taught Dawn how to tell if someone was a slayer before she and Kennedy had left for Brazil. In fact, Willow had taught Dawn a lot of magick. Dawn wanted to be a witch, but before Willow would teach her anything, she made her promise she'd never use it too much. Dawn replied that she had watched what had happened to Willow and that she'd never let that happen to her.

"You're a slayer," Dawn said.


	3. Miss Watcher Faith

Chapter Three: Miss Watcher Faith

I looked at Dawn skeptically. "You _sure_? I mean…" I scoffed. "_Wow_…."

"I'm _sure_," Dawn nodded.

"How do _you_ guys know about slayers?" Tymeria asked me.

I leaned in towards her and whispered, "I'm the Slayer that was called after Buffy, the Chosen One, died the second time. Dawn over here's a half-witch."

"A _half_-witch? Is that _possible_?" she asked.

"Oh, it's _possible_, all right," Dawn sighed. "I'm not a _total_ witch yet. Willow has taught me a thing or two, but I'm not totally _there_ yet."

"But yet, she _wishes_ she was," I added.

Dawn playfully hit me as Tymeria and I laughed. She then asked, "So why didn't you tell Tori?"

"Because I thought civilians weren't supposed to _know_!" she replied.

"I'm a _civilian_? Since _when_ am _I_ a civilian!" I cried.

"Since I became a _slayer_," she answered.

"Hey, I'm _the_ Slayer, thank you very much!" I shouted. "And I'm a kick-vamp-ass one at that, too. I've killed quite a few in my days." After several seconds, I added, "I'm also the _last_ Slayer called… the last Slayer that can actually _have_ her title 'Slayer' capitalized. 'Cause I was _called_. Now, _sure_, you _could've_ been called, but I was actual-"

"Tor!" Dawn cried, laughing. "Stop _boasting_! You two are gonna pull a Buffy-and-_Faith_ in a minute!"

"You're _right_, she's not _worth_ it," I said, flashing a smile at my best friend while winking at her.

"Why I _oughta_…" she stood up, ready to hit me.

"Guys, come _on_. Am I the only _one_ that has half a brain! Oh, _that's_ right. You're slayers. You don't _have_ one. Well, I'll just keep my mouth shut, then," Dawn told us.

Laughing, Tymeria sat down and let it go. I felt bonded to her again, like she knew all of me again.

"So, maybe we could go slaying tonig-" Tymeria was interrupted when the bell sounded, meaning we had eight minutes to get back to class. We started to get up and walk back towards the math hall. (Tymeria and I had Calculus and Dawn had Geometry)

"Yeah, sounds cool," I told her.

"What about Faith?" Dawn asked me.

"Who's Faith?" Tymeria asked.

"Oh, another Slayer. She was called before me," I explained.

"And _now_ she's Tori's watcher," Dawn added.

"And a _bad_ one at that," I scoffed. "Chick doesn't know how to '_watch'_ me. She just knows how to push my buttons, saying that the physical _stress_ she causes me is actually her _training_ me. Bad excuse, I say. You better _hope_ my dad watches you and not her."

"Mr. _Giles_?" Tymeria asked.

"Giles is my sister Buffy's watcher. He couldn't watch Tori because she's his daughter. Against the rules. So instead, he appointed Faith to watch her, thinking Faith's experience with the Calling would help her train Tori to be a great Slayer. Boy, was _he_ wrong. Sometimes I think Faith just tries to kill Tori with her crazy excuses of training just for the kicks," Dawn explained.

"Well, doesn't Mr. Giles realize what Faith is doing?" Tymeria asked.

"Faith only does it when Dad goes to London. When he's home, he spends so much time with me that she has no _time_ to do anything. He goes with me on patrols just so he can talk to me. I think he still feels guilty he missed most of my life." I replied.

"That sucks," she said.

I shrugged. "Yeah, but that's the way it goes. My life is _still_ better now that I've met the Scooby Gang and Company. I feel complete."

"The Scooby Gang and Company?" Tymeria inquired. "What's _that_?"

"That's everyone who's good who knew Buffy was the Slayer," Dawn replied. "Xander and Willow were the first to join, then Cordelia, Oz, Ms. Calendar, Angel, Riley, me, Anya, Spike, Andrew, Jonathan, Kenned-"

"Okay, Dawn. Enough names. The 'Company' part is the potentials like Rona and Amanda, those kinds. Would _Andrew_ be counted as 'Scooby Gang'? He seems like 'Company' to me," I said.

"No, he was _definitely_ 'Scooby Gang,'" she said as we approached her class. "See you after school."

"Bye, Dawn," I told her as Tymeria and I kept walking. "Hey, Ty, you can come over today, and then we'll see if Faith'll let you slay with me tonight. You can miss the bus and ride with Dawn and me."

"Okay, sounds good to me," she said as we entered our calculus class and walked to our desks. "Let's meet at your car."

Several hours later, Dawn, Brooke, and I were walking up to my house. I unlocked the door and we walked upstairs towards my room.

"You know, now that I know this household isn't normal, I half expect to see a _demon_ standing behind a door," Tymeria said.

"Oh, no, demons come on Tuesday. Today's _Wednesday_, so you're safe," Dawn joked around.

"So then what comes on Wednesdays?" Tymeria asked, laughing.

"Anything buggy. It's icky nig-" she was quickly interrupted by me, as I opened the door to my room up and screamed.

Tymeria jumped into her fighter's stance as Dawn held up a hand. They both squealed, "What!"

"WHAT… DID SHE _DO_…. TO MY _ROOM_!" I screamed. We all looked inside to see my room trashed. Drawers were empty, my bed sheets and comforters were lying on the floors, trashcans were emptied out on the floor, and underwear hung from the ceiling fan.

"Uh-oh," Dawn whispered, sensing trouble.

"_FAITH_!" I screamed, sincerely pissed. "GET YOUR _ASS_ IN HERE!"

"What?" she casually said a few minutes later as she walked to us.

"_WHAT_ DID YOU _DO_ TO MY _ROOM_?" I asked.

"It's your next training assignment," she told me. "Clean up your trashed room without getting distracted."

"YOU KNOW _WHAT_! I AM _TIRED_ OF YOU! I AM CALLING DAD AND _DEMANDING_ A NEW WATCHER! _ANDREW_ WOULD BE A BETTER WATCHER THAN _YOU_ ARE! NOW, GET _OUT_ OF MY _HOUSE_!" I screamed.

"Hey, _you_ let me in, so it's _my_ house, too," she said.

"_NO_, IT'S NOT _ANYMORE_! GET _OUT_!"

"Or _what_?" she said, pushing my buttons.

"OR I'LL _KICK_ YOUR ASS TO _PLUTO_!"

"And _I'll_ help," Tymeria said, stepping in.

"Who are _you_?" Faith asked, noticing her for the first time.

"I'm her best _friend_, and a slayer, too."

"Two Slayers against _one_, Faith. What'chya gonna _do_?" I asked her.

"Bring it _on_," she replied. "You're still gonna clean up your room in the end."

"_URGH_!" I cried in frustration and ran out, Dawn and Tymeria following me. I ran out of the house and pulled out my cell. When I turned it on, the voice said, "No service. Pay now to get it back."

"Last time I trust _Faith_ to do my errands," I muttered. I then turned to my two best friends. "Look, guys, there is _no_ way in _hell_ I'm gonna go back in there, so d'you mind if we hang at _your_ house for a while, Ty? Just until tonight."

"Sounds good to me," she said nodding.

I turned and got into my car as they got in, too. I started it up and drove off.

"What are you gonna _do_?" Dawn asked me.

"I'm gonna _call_ Dad and have _him_ settle this mess," I told her.

"You think he's gonna change your watchers?" Tymeria asked.

"Hopefully. Either way, Faith's _right_," I replied.

"What do you _mean_?" Dawn said.

"Either way, I'm gonna have to clean up my room."

Several minutes later, I was using Tymeria's phone to call Dad in England.

"Hello?" he said as he answered it.

"Hi, Dad, it's Tori," I replied.

"Oh, hello. How are things in Halesberg?"

"You don't know the _half_ of it. Dad, Faith trashed my room."

"She did _what_? _Why_?"

"Cause she's a _bitch_ and she's saying it's a "_training_ assignment." How much bullshit is _that_?"

"Well, whether you _like_ it or not, Tor, she's your watcher, and although her ways are _strange_, there's nothing I can do. I'm sorry."

"Dad, she _trashed_ my _room_. What _don't_ you understand in that?"

"Well, I _understand_ that, Tori, but-"

"I have my _underwear_ hanging from the _ceiling_!"

"Oh…. well, then put her on the line."

"She's not here. I'm over at Ty's house for the simple _fact_ that I can't _look_ at her in the face for another second."

Dawn decided to pipe in and yelled into the speaker, "It's _true_! Tori yelled at Faith so much, I thought she was gonna _blow_ into a _million_ tiny red pieces!"

"Well, I'll call over at your house and deal with it," he told me.

"But then she's gonna _deny_ everything I _said_ against her!" I cried.

"No, she _won't_. You are her responsibility when I'm gone and I will not tolerate her acting this way towards my daughter."

"Oh, come _on_, Dad, we all _know_ you're a pushover."

"I am _certainly_ most no-"

"Dad, that reminds me. There's a _boy_ I met today and I want to bring him other tonight, you know hang out. Well, if you know what I _mean_."

He sighed. "O…. okay… I-I _guess_ so. I just… don't get him _killed_."

"_See_! I _told_ you so!"

"I was just _joking_! I was gonna.. crack down in a couple of seconds…." he said forcefully.

"No, you weren't."

"Ye-"

"Dad, if you _don't_ believe me, call Buffy. Or Will. Or Xander. _They'll_ tell you."

"So I'm a bit of a bloody pushover. That _still_ doesn't mean that I'll believe everything Faith says."

"Dad, either get her to stop these crazy _'training'_ bits, or I want a new watcher."

"Tori, you _know_ I can't get you a new watche-"

"Then make her _quit_!"

"I'll try," he finally said.

"Don't try... _do_," I replied.

"All right," with that, he hung up.

"So?" Dawn and Tymeria pushed.

"He's gonna try," I told them.

"Are you sure that'll _work_?" Tymeria asked.

"It's all I got right now," I replied.

That night, Tymeria and I went on patrol. We dropped Dawn off at my house and went to the graveyard. We were busy slaying a new vamp when we heard a shrilling scream. I quickly did a back handspring and staked the vamp. He turned to dust and I turned to Tymeria.

"We should investigate, shouldn't we?" she asked.

"Mm-hmm," I replied.

"Which way did that come from?" she looked around.

"I don't know," I said, doing the same. "Let's split up. You go east and I go west. We meet at the front gate in thirty minutes."

"Okay," she walked towards the east as I went the opposite way of her, not knowing if I'd find a dead body with what the paper would write in a headline 'Person Cuts Themself In Graveyard, Bleeding To Death' or if I'd find a person being tortured by a vampire, or worse a demon.


	4. Researching and Leaving

Chapter Four:Researching And Leaving

I've never seen or had to deal with demons. Not in real life. I'd seen them in visions of Sunnydale, but other than that, I was walking into new territory. If only I would have known what I'd see next. It was purely gruesome. Evil's best. I've never been a "let's see blood and guts" person, let alone Slayer. I know that's bad. Since I'm a Slayer and all, but I did have a problem with it. (Well, not now, but you'll understand that later)

So, here I was, walking. By myself. In a graveyard. Did I mention _alone_?

I don't understand it. I'm a Slayer. I have _killler_ strength. But, you will never understand how afraid I am before a hunt. Before a kill. Because, you don't know what goes bump in the night. I _do_. And it scares me more than you can ever imagine when I'm about to meet that thing. A thing that kills people. People like me. But then, I remember, I'm not like those people. I'm a Slayer. The fear that runs through me... it's like a High. A High that gets your heartbeat going. It's what makes your five senses that much stronger. You hear things you're not used to hearing.

You see, when you understand fear, your fighting tends to be much better.

Fear can get you killed. But it can also help you to fight off your worst demons. The trick... is to never let that fear get to you. You let it get to your senses, but not to yourself. You bottle that fear up and take it out on the thing that is causing that fear to overcome you. That's a Slayer's biggest weapon. Knowing how to control her emotions and using it to defeat your opponent. That's the one, if only, thing I've learned from Faith.

I was walking down the graveyard, nervous. I took a deep breath, inhaling all that fear and exhaled it by blowing out, eyes closed, listening to the air around me. I heard it. It was northwest from where I was standing and it was breathing quite heavily, slurping noises coming out. I knew then it was killing a human. Like me. I took a deep breath and pulled an axe out of my bag on my shoulder. I threw the bag on the ground and heard it go bang as I examined the axe. The blade was sharp, and I smiled. An axe is a Slayer's best friend when it comes to demons.

I clutched the axe beside me tightly and walked towards the sound. I walked behind a mausoleum with the name "GRANSTAFF" on it and peeked behind the corner. When I saw it, I covered my mouth and bit my tongue to stop myself from screaming.

The sight was simply grotesque. A brown-skinned demon with huge horns that looked like antlers made it look like a deer. Except it stood. And I didn't know how it stood with those antlers. It was crouched next to a young girl who looked about twenty, and she looked dead. It was doing something to her head, blood spilled all around. Every now and then, the demon would take its finger, dip it in the blood, and lick its finger. I cringed at the sight as it pulled at the girl's head.

_It's trying to get into her head_, I realized, Slayer observation kicking in. _Looks like it's trying to go for her brain._ I then thought about what I could do. I _had_ to save this girl if she was still alive. I hoped she was still alive. If I hit it from the back, chopping off its head, it should be dead. But I'd have to sneak over to the other side of the mausoleum. I backed up a bit and turned, stepping quietly. I got about half way to the front of the mausoleum when I heard a loud crack under my feet. Fear was kicking up again, and I used it to my advantage, listening to the sounds around me. I heard the demon coming after me.

_It knows I'm here_, I thought. I exhaled and made a quick decision and ran towards the back as fast as I could, swinging the axe up over my head as I ran.

The demon came at me full speed. As I took a first horizontal swing, it held up its arm and blocked it, and I realized fighting demons is more different than vampires. Vampires are easy to kill. You block a punch here, they block a punch there, you get some punches, they get some punches, you stake them, they turn to dust, the end. But demons are more stronger. Knowing my strongest points, I kicked it in the stomach and knocked it back, then swung the axe in an arc, managing to slice it's arm off. It looked at its' arm lie there twitching on the ground, looked at me, and said, "Ereh enod ton erew. Stiawa ecnaegnev." As I watched, confused, it ran off. I then ran over to the woman and grabbed her wrist, feeling a pulse beating. I sighed heavily, thankful that she was still alive. I'd beat myself up if she wasn't.

"What happened here?" I heard Tymeria ask, approaching behind me.

"Demon," I replied. "I think it was trying to eat her brain." I pointed at where we had fought. "I cut his arm off."

She crossed over to the arm and picked it up. She then looked at me. "I'll take this to your house. You take the woman to the hospital, say it was an accident at the park, she was swinging, jumped off, and hit a branch, and it cut her."

"Yeah. Right." I picked her up and ran off as Tymeria walked in the opposite direction.

When I finally got home, I found the others at work looking for this demon.

"Got anywhere yet?" I asked.

"Nope. Nowhere," Dawn replied.

"How's the woman?" Tymeria looked at me.

"She'll be okay," I said reassuringly. "She's got a mild concussion, but the doctor says she'll be in perfect condition again after a few days spent at the hospital."

"That's good," Dawn said, then turned back to her book. "Meanwhile, we're getting _nowhere_."

"Yeah," Faith stated coming in, pointing at Dawn. "Watcher Junior here's getting nowhere in the books... you'd think she'd get _somewhere_ with all her years watching Giles go at it."

I glared her down for a minute, then gave a heavy sigh. "Whatever. People's lives are at stake, and I'm not gonna let people die just so I can win this round." I pointed at her. "But _don't_ you even _think_ you're gonna win _next_ round, cause _I'm_ gonna win it _way_ better than you did this one, and I'm gonna win it _fairly_."

"Whatever," she said, shrugging carelessly, which pissed me off even more. "Bring it on. I'll be more than ready."

I rolled my eyes and grabbed a book, starting to research, trying to get my mind off Faith. It didn't strike odd to me just why Buffy and Faith didn't get along for so long, and chances are they _still_ wouldn't if she was in Halesberg. _Wish I had went traveling to Europe_, I thought. _Then I could get away from this evil, conniving idiot_. I don't know why she got at me the way she did. Maybe it was because it was Faith. Come on, wouldn't _you_ be this bugged if you knew Faith? Wouldn't _you_ want to crack her neck and just be done with it? But that was the one thing she knew best about, fighting. The moves, the thought process behind it, she knew it all. That's the only thing she could ever teach me. That I'd ever _want_ her to teach me. True, she killed an innocent human being, but we all make mistakes. She just doesn't know what makes her so annoying. _Maybe I should sit her down, have a heart to heart with her. Maybe that would help, maybe she'd appreciate my ca-_

"_Yo_! Earth to the Dreamy Slayer!" Faith yelled, waking me from my thoughts. "The _phone_. Could you get that?"

I looked over to see the phone ringing on the table beside my chair. "Oh, yeah..." I trailed off and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hey! Tori! How's it going?" I heard Buffy's voice on the other line.

"Buffy... hey. It's... a little chaotic here," I told her.

"It's Buffy?" Dawn said, looking up from the phone. I nodded as I listened to Buffy ask, "What do you mean, _chaotic_?"

"Oh, we've got our first demon trouble here in Halesberg," I explained.

"You don't think Halesberg has a Hellmouth secretly resting under it, do you?" she said, being half way sarcastic, half way honest.

"No. We've checked. Four times. It's _definitely_ not," I told her.

"Oh. Okay. If you insist. So, what's the haps? The big bad? Cause, maybe I can help. Seen a lot of demons in _my_ day," she said.

"Well," I started, "there's this demon that was trying to get inside this girl's head. I don't know if it wanted her brain or what, but it was trying as hard as it could to get into the head."

"Description?" she asked.

"A brown-skinned demon with horns like antlers, but stood on the ground on two feet," I replied.

"Hmm..." she trailed on, pondering the information. "You think antlers would narrow it down a lot."

"Yeah, but not if there's only _one_ demon that has these antlers," I told her.

"True... hmm. Good luck with that. So how's a February month in Virginia?" she asked.

"Oh, it's pretty mild right now, here. So what's your February month like, where ever you are?" I said.

"Oh, it's actually warmer than it would be in California. I'm in Italy. I've settled down, and I want Dawn to move over here," she said calmly.

"Italy? That's nic-... you want Dawn to move _over_ there with you?" I cried as the words sank into my head.

"Yeah. I'm staying here in Rome. I've got a new boyfriend, and Andrew's decided to move here too, so now that I'm settled I think it's time for Dawn to come join me," she said. "Can I talk to her?"

"Oh... sure," I looked up and said, "It's Buffy. She wants to talk to you, Dawn."

Dawn took the phone and then heard the news for herself. She looked _ecstatic_. Even if she was leaving me. I mean, Dawn and I had been stuck together like glue for the last several months. And now she was _leaving_... I'd feel so empty without her.

When she got off, she told everyone the news. Everyone was happy for her. I tried to show it as much as I could. It was hard... and a major blow to my world. But I knew it had been coming. So it wasn't a total shock or anything... right? She then continued to say, "I'll be leaving in two days. I better go to my room and pack."

I followed her, asking "Do you want any help? I mean, it's not like I'm getting anywhere with the research. And I need a break."

"Yeah," Dawn said. "I guess I can use the help. Besides, I want to spend as much time with you as possible before I leave." She gave me a smile. Dawn was always so pretty, it took everything I had in me not to be jealous of her for it. Many girls at school were. And when she smiled... let's just say, although her sister's some big bad Slayer, Dawn would beat Buffy in a beauty competition _any_ day. She'd win five times in a row if she smiled through them all.

While helping her gather some of her things and start packing, she looked at me and asked, "Are you okay with this, Tori?"

"I'll be okay," I said reassuringly. "I mean, I knew it was coming. It's just... we haven't been seperated since May. It'll be a little hard at first."

"Yeah," she said, crossing over to me. "But I'll email you, cause calling people is _so_ out now, and I'll send you pictures, and we'll IM each other, it'll be like I never left your side..."

She started crying and gave me a hug. "I'll miss you so much... you're the best friend I never had..."

"Well, like you said, we'll write..." I started crying. Then I backed up and stood up straight. "_Look_ at us! You're a half witch and I'm a Slayer. And we're _bawling_ like idiots! We've gotta toughen up." Then I realized what I had said. "You're a half _witch_! We can make this work. You just have to learn teleporting. _Then_ I can see you everyday."

"But teleporting's for _demons_, Tori," she reminded me.

"Oh, yeah. I knew that. Anya said that once. You can only go airborne... and it takes longer," I sighed. "I guess we're sticking to writing?"

"Writing it is," Dawn nodded, wiping a tear off her cheek.

Those next two days, Dawn spent as much time with me as she could. We didn't get anywhere with researching, even with Robin helping Faith and Tymeria. I drove Dawn to the airport and after getting a huge hug from her, she left for Italy.

I slumped home and started researching again. I was pretty sure we had went through the whole entire library. It had been a week, and we still hadn't found _anything_.

"It's a good thing we're Slayers and not Watchers," Faith said one day. "Wait a minute... _I'm_ your Watcher. Then, _damn_, I suck at Watching."

"You're just _now_ figuring that out?" I asked her, looking up from my book.

"_Bite_ me, Shorty," she told me.

"_Why_ are we still looking? This demon's probably out of _town_ by now," I sighed. There was no way we'd find it, not now, not ever, so why were we even tryin-

"Hey, girls," Dad said as he walked in. "And.. Robin." He looked around. "Why.. are we all in the library? Reading? _Slayers_ never _read_."

"Demon. A week ago. Trying to find it in the books. Haven't gotten anywhere," I told him.

"What's with your _incredibly_ short sentences?" he asked.

"Haven't gotten much sleep, with school and researching, and missing Dawn and all," I said.

"Ah, yes. She went and joined Buffy and Andrew in Italy, no?" he walked over to a shelf and pulled out what looked like a really old book.

"Yeah. Bet you're glad to get rid of that little _runt_, eh?" Faith said, laughing. "What a fresh little thing... a _gay_ thing, too."

"You don't _seriously_ think that?" Dad looked at her, eyebrows raised.

Faith snorted. "D'you see the looks he gave Xander? Ain't no _way_ he's not gay. Or, at least, bi."

"Hmm... yes," he looked at me. "Now, Tori, what did this demon look like? What did he do?"

"He was brown-skinned. Had antlers. Stood on two feet. Tried eating a girl's brain," I told him.

"Yes... the antlers and brown skin are probably to blend into the natural world, to look like an animal. Eating... _brains_ is what you want to look into," he said, flipping for the book.

"Watch him crack it in the next _five_ minutes," Faith said, looking at me. I nodded.

"What are you reading, Dad?" I asked.

"Oh, the Encyclopedia of Demons," he told me. "It's the easiest way to look up a demon. I'm on the "Index" book, thumbing through 'brains, eating.'"

"I didn't even know we _had_ something like that," I said, turning to the other three. "Did you guys?"

Robin, Faith, and Tymeria shrugged and said no.

"Ah, _here_ we are," Giles said, pointing at a page and turning back to the rest of the encyclopedia to find the right book.

"_Told_ you he'd find it," Faith said. "Guy's, like, _Macho_ Man with the books." She then laughed.

In a couple minutes, Dad had the book opened and was reading from the text. "'The Lysacrete demon is a vile and vicious demon. Looking like an odd deer to blend in to its' surroundings, this demon lives in wooded areas, feeding on animal brains and the occasional human passerby who was unfortunate enough to walk through its' territory. Many Lysacretes are not able to get through the human skull on their own, but have been known to find natural tools to open the skulls.'"

"Okay... so... what do we do now?" I asked.

"Wait, there's more. 'The Lysacrete has but one weakness, their own head. They must eat brains to maintain their own from exploding, which will kill them,'" he read on.

"So, you're saying that we need to go for the brain?" Tymeria asked.

"Their brain goes _kerplooey_?" I cut in.

"Some strange, whacked up demon _that_ is," Faith said, standing.

I turned to her. "What do I do?"

"Tonight... you find it, and you _kill_ it," she told me.


End file.
